MENTAL ACTIVITIES

      Based on the idea that reading is the centre of learning skills since human birth, are we aware of metacognitive strategies that we use unconsciously? People begin learning with reading at the early age, and they choose reading strategies that are also called as mental activities to comprehend the intended message or context as solving the complex clauses and become a good reader. Thus, there are metacognitive strategies that people handle in terms of their learning skills. Highlighting and writing important words or ideas, visualization and re-reading are three of the reading strategies that I use mostly in point of my learning skill.

      Highlighting and writing important words or ideas is the most important reading strategy that I mostly handle. Highlighting that is the first of the strategy warns the brain and takes the attention to highlight words or ideas. In other words, highlighting reminds people that there are some words or ideas that need to be focused. For instance, these highlighting words or ideas can be main ideas or keywords and when I see these patterns, I underline them both to recognize the most important parts and to find them more easily when I return to review the text. Besides, using colourful materials makes comprehension easier while underlining. To exemplify, I use pink for definitions while I use yellow for unknown words. These materials help me to differentiate what they are. Writing that is the second step of the strategy is the key to the way of success for me because writing is also revising. From my point of view, for example, I take note underlined words or ideas that are relevant the issue that I am learning to keep it in the long-term memory. While I am taking notes, I both re-read and re-write more than once at the same time. To sum up, highlighting and writing important ideas or words help people comprehend more easily and keep information in the long-term memory.

       Visualization is the other essential metacognitive strategy that I try to employ. Visualization means that creating events or persons in the mind based on descriptions included in the text. It attributes our imaginary world. The more we imagine, the more we get involved in it while reading descriptive paragraphs. Supposing that you are reading a fantasy book and there are lots of sentences written with descriptive language. When reading, you cannot give up reading. This is due to these descriptive sentences. Because you feel like that you are in it; in order words, it becomes your world. In conclusion, visualization is the key point for connection with the text.

       Last but not least, re-reading has an importance between reading strategies. Re-reading is revisiting the text that we do not comprehend any intended message. It can also be claimed as monitoring strategy. There are two ways of using re-reading. First one is that when we just check the text to find the keywords or ideas, we use re-reading to recognize more easily. On the other hand, the second one is that when we do not get the intended message and we are not able to make any comprehension out from the text, we use re-reading to revisit and get the more clarity about the text. Re-reading is an important reading strategy for more clarity.

       Taking everything into consideration, underlining and writing important words and ideas, visualization and re-reading are the most useful strategies that I discussed in this essay. People employ metacognitive strategies either they are aware or unaware to get the intended message depends on different learning styles.